Dance Floor

ARTICLES ABOUT DANCE FLOOR BY DATE - PAGE 5

It is the last period of the school day, and about 20 students are waiting for history teacher Marc Newman to give them a cue to their next lesson. Newman, wearing a brown derby, vest and high-button shoes, takes a record from an album and puts it on a phonograph at the front of the room. Soon the sounds of George and Ira Gershwin's I Got Rhythm fill the room at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy high school in West Boca Raton. "This is a warmup," Newman said as the students, now in pairs, dance the Charleston in his ballroom dance class, an elective for fine arts credit that meets every afternoon except Friday at the Jewish day school.

Celebrity hairstylist Laurent Dufourg has a mission - and it's not just taking great care of your hair. Laurent D., creator of PrivM-i Formule aux Herbes hair care collection, whose client list includes Debra Messing and Teri Hatcher, has introduced a super-eco-friendly new line with PrivM-i Concept Vert Rejuvenating Pure Shampoo and Conditioner. The green cans hint at the planet-conscious contents inside. What's interesting about Concept Vert is what it doesn't have inside the can: The formula is free of phthalates, sulfates, parabens, PABA and gluten.

Scottish country dancing has found a new home at the Sunrise Senior Center. There, about a dozen beginners through advanced dancers meet Tuesday nights for an hour of social dancing, with a traditional twist. Rinthy Aman, who has been dancing for 19 years and teaching for 10, leads the class, which recently moved from Fort Lauderdale. "I love the music and I love the fact that it never gets boring because there are always new dances. Once you learn the formations, you learn new dances just by the way they are put together.

You can eat salsa with chips and guacamole. But for the really hot version, salsa has got to be savored on the dance floor with a little ?clave? or Latin beat. Local chef Sigfredo GonzM-alez serves up mostly Puerto Rican comfort food at his Davie restaurant, Borinqueya. But this Saturday, on the eve of Mother?s Day, he?s offering a hot version of salsa with his buddy, vocalist and bandleader Luis ?Lefty? PM-irez. PM-irez (in the video above) is a classic ?sonero? or improvisational singer who also runs a beauty salon-barber shop in Plantation.

Months in the making, the city and police have devised a way to curb underage drinking and raucous behavior at bars and nightclubs without affecting restaurants. The city and Police Services Department propose banning anyone younger than 21 from bars and nightclubs between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., mandating that nightclubs set up cameras inside and outside and requiring that nightclubs bring on security personnel after 10 p.m. Two shootings in early 2008 fueled concerns that nightclubs were becoming breeding grounds for violence among young patrons.

Make room for Lucille. Despite economic hard times, the B.B. King?s Blues Club is coming to CityPlace in West Palm Beach this fall. And while other clubs have recently closed, promoters say this one should make it. The optimism is based on the B.B. King?s Blues clubs in Orlando, Memphis and Nashville, which have enjoyed record sales in 2008, according to the chain?s president, Tommy Peters. Plus, other entertainment-related venues at CityPlace, like the Palm Beach Improv and Taverna Opa, are doing relatively well.

They're as close to a salsa institution as you can get. With hits like ?Tu me hiciste brujerM-ma,? ?No hay cama pa? tanta gente,? and ?Que le pongan salsa,? El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico has moved salsa fans to the dance floor for almost 50 years. The band performs Saturday night (April 18) at Club 90 degree, 90 NE 11th St., downtown Miami. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at 786-425-3545 or by clicking here. Doors open at 10 p.m.

The economy sucks but, on the up side, it's forcing businesses to get creative. At least we think that's what's happening at the Blue Martini Lounge in Tampa. Whatever the reason, the lounge was recently transformed into a child-proof dance floor for toddlers, reports 10Connects It plans to do the disco-tot thing once a month. It's part of a bigger trend to turn hip night spots into a fun place for parents and kids. Or so we're told. Frankly, we hadn't noticed. And, truth to tell, we find comments like this baffling.

The Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach will be transformed into a chic black and white discotheque on Saturday, February 7 for the Lupus Foundation of America, Southeast Florida Chapter's Annual Butterfly Ball. Gala chairwoman, Stacie Weisman, promises this event will be the highlight of the social season. The evening begins with a poolside cocktail party, followed by an extravagant silent auction and four-course dinner. Disco divas Maxine Nightingale ("Right Back Where We Started From"), France Joli ("Come To Me")